One week removed from Apple’s unveiling of iOS 8, production of Apple’s next generation products – products that will all but certainly expand into new mobile tech categories …

One week removed from Apple’s unveiling of iOS 8, production of Apple’s next generation products – products that will all but certainly expand into new mobile tech categories – is purportedly gaining momentum.

And based on new reports emerging ahead of the weekend, Apple’s inaugural smartwatch – affectionately but unofficially dubbed “iWatch” across the blogosphere – will likely be among the new slate of gadgets introduced by Apple before the close of 2014.

“According to a parts manufacturer, it [Apple] plans monthly commercial output of about 3-5 million units, which exceeds the total global sales of watch-like devices last year,” Nikkei reported Friday.

Sources close to Apple’s manufacturing chain indicate that the iWatch will likely launch in October, potentially after a September demonstration in conjunction with the arrival of iOS 8 and the unveiling of Apple’s next-generation iPhone.

Nikkei’s report notes that Apple’s confidence in iWatch and HealthKit is “backed by its partnerships with high-profile hospitals — it has teamed up with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, U.S. health institutes based in Minnesota and Ohio, respectively, to develop specific ways of analyzing the collected data and applying it to actual health management.”